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Namak Pare

Munch on this crispy snack on a cold or rainy day with ginger tea or coffee. Easy to make and you can even store them for a week.

Ingredients

All purpose flour

1 Cup (16 tbs)

Semolina

1 Cup (16 tbs)

Carrom seeds

1⁄2 Teaspoon

Salt

1 Teaspoon

Clarified butter

1⁄4 Cup (4 tbs)

Cold water

1⁄4 Cup (4 tbs) (or as required to make a stiff dough)

For deep friying

Oil

1 Cup (16 tbs) (For deep frying)

Directions

GETTING READY
1. In a large bowl, mix the carom seeds, salt, semolina and flour together and rub the clarified butter in lightly so that the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Knead into a stiff dough with cold water. Cover dough and set to rest in a cool place for at least 15 minutes.

MAKING
3. Roll out the dough into a 1/4 or 1/8 cm in thick sheet.
4. Prick with a fork all over the surface. Cut into narrow strips of desired size.
5. In a skillet, heat the oil till a piece of dough dropped in, rises to the top at once. Then, put in as many strips as will fit in comfortably. Turn once, and lower heat to medium. Fry till light brown on both sides. Lift out and place on absorbent paper. Fry the rest similarly, increasing heat before adding a fresh lot.
6. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Namak paare is pastry like crunchy snack lightly seasoned with carom seed. This is a great snack with a cup of tea. I like them with spiced mango or lemon pickle. This is one of those crunchies, which you will end up eating almost half a pound without even realizing that you had so much. Something that you can find in a lot of households across the country.
It's nothing short of a ritual in our house to cook it every month and hog on it as much as we want without thinking about the calorie count, its amazingly easy to make and the ingredients are readily available.